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The One Plus One Review

You know, you spend your whole life feeling like you don’t quite fit in anywhere. And then you walk into a room one day, whether it’s at university or an office or some kind of club, and you just go, ‘Ah. There they are.’ And suddenly you feel at home.

Title: The One Plus One
Author: Jojo Moyes
Pages: 516

Apologies that it’s been a bit quiet on the book review front – the book that I’m reviewing today took slightly longer than I thought to get through!

Ever since reading Me Before You, I decided that I really enjoy Jojo Moyes’ style of writing and the stories she tells. From the books that I have read, they’re easy to follow, the themes discussed will be relevant to each and every reader in some way, and most importantly, you feel like you’re a part of each and every story. And this is how I felt whilst reading The One Plus One.

I saw the book in the library one Saturday and thought I’d give it a go. I knew before starting it that I’d enjoy it.

The story follows the story of Jess, a single(ish) mother of 2, who feels like everything in the world is against her – the Fishers, her estranged husband, Marty as well as struggling to make ends meet, financially. But Jess has an extremely gifted daughter, Tanzie, who’s invited to a private school called St Anne’s to further her maths skills.

When Jess hears of a maths Olympiad taking place in Aberdeen, she decides to take this opportunity to change the family’s poor fortunes. When they’re offered a lift there by Mr Nicholls, she’s in no position to refuse, despite her clear dislike towards him. Can Jess suppress her feelings towards him the whole distance and will Ed reveal the secret he’s hiding back in London? Will the family’s luck ever change and can Nicky finally get his own back on the Fishers? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

I definitely underestimated how long the book would take me to read, however when I got started, I found it difficult to put it down. Yes, some aspects of the plot are predictable but there was one chapter towards the end where I was literally so upset – those who have read it will know what I’m talking about! I did think that the first few chapters dragged, I mean, what happens to Mr and Mrs Ritter after that find?! I guess we’ll never know!

The only downside of the book is the sheer size of it, especially for a commuter! I found it difficult to fit it into my handbag to pull out on the train but my efforts were not unfruitful.